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Compendium Engineering 20/20 Overdrive
Photo: Guitar World
Compendium Engineering

Compendium Engineering 20/20 Overdrive

Overdrive
List price
$165
Key facts
TypeOverdrive pedal with built-in boost1
MakerCompendium Engineering, designed with Nick Casasanto of Knuckle Puck1
AnnouncedAugust 4, 20201
CircuitDrive circuit on the left, IC-driven boost on the right1

The 20/20 Overdrive is an overdrive pedal made by Compendium Engineering, developed with Nick Casasanto, electric guitar player for the band Knuckle Puck. It combines a drive circuit and a boost circuit in a single enclosure, with the aim of replacing more than one pedal on a board. Guitar World reported its release in August 2020 at a price of $165.1

What it does

The pedal puts two functions side by side: a drive circuit on the left and an IC-driven boost on the right. The two can be used together or separately, and the makers position it as a way to clear multiple pedals off a board. As the designers put it1:

"With the 20/20 Overdrive, we've eliminated the need for more than one pedal, saving you precious space on your pedalboard."
Guitar World, quoting the designers1

The drive side offers three levels of gain. Guitar World describes the range as everything from light boost to saturated distortion and fuzz, so the pedal reaches beyond what most players expect from a dedicated overdrive pedal and touches on distortion and fuzz territory at its top settings.1

The stated goal behind the circuit was to recreate the thick, overdriven tones heard on Knuckle Puck's then-forthcoming record, which the band used the pedal to track.1

Controls

ControlWhat it does
VolumeSets overall output level
GainSets the drive amount, with three levels of gain from light boost to saturated distortion/fuzz
BassBass EQ for the drive side
TrebleTreble EQ for the drive side
BoostLevel for the IC-driven boost circuit

The five knobs cover volume, gain, bass, treble and boost, so the EQ and boost level are adjustable rather than fixed.1

Where it came from

The pedal is a collaboration between Casasanto and Mike Pappalardo of Compendium Engineering. Guitar World's report of the release appeared on August 4, 2020, describing the 20/20 Overdrive as a new pedal built around the band's own tones.1

Videos

Introducing the 20/20 Overdrive Pedal
Knuckle Puck
Sources (1)
  1. Nail Knuckle Puck's saturated pop-punk tones with the band's new 20/20 Overdrive pedal, Guitar World, 2020-08-04